Center for Teaching and Learning Newsletter

CTL October Newsletter
The CTL Newsletter is distributed electronically every month during the academic year.
Highlights from our October issue include:
Using the Web to Engage Students: Part I page 2
Maura C. Flannery
Create Your Own Web Site with Campusguides page 3
Faculty News page 4
Vincentian Mission: Opportunity and Responsibility-No. XXIX
in the Series: Ambiguity and Ethics page 5
Paul Gyllenhammer
Do You Want to Become More Engaged with Students page 6
The Office of Grants and Sponsored Research (OGSR): Complete
Support for your Sponsored Projects page 7
Jared Littman
Responding to the Higher Education Act: Student Consumer
Information page page 8
Christine M. Goodwin
WAC and the CTL Invite You to a Faculty Writing Retreat page 8
Classroom in the Clouds Brown-bag Lunch Series page 9
Blackboard Workshops page 9
Faculty News: If you would like to send an entry to “Faculty News,” the deadline for the November issue is November 2. We prefer that you email the information to CTL@stjohns.edu. Please have your entries follow the style presented in “Faculty News.”
Remember: The best places to look for faculty-related information are the CTL Webpage and the CTL Teaching and Learning Forum.
CTL Fall 2010
Calendar of Events
October Dates to Note!!
Thursday, October 21
Got Mission? - Integrating the University’s Mission into Your Teaching
10:30 to 11:50 a.m.
Rosati Conference Room, Staten Island Campus
Monday, October 25
Faculty Writing Initiative: Dealing with Obstacles to Writing
1:30 to 3 p.m.
IWS, Library 150
Tuesday, October 26
Got Mission? - Integrating the University’s Mission into Your Teaching
1:30 to 2:50 p.m.
Library 110
Wednesday, October 27
Journal Club: Lost Arts of Teaching
1:20 to 3 p.m.
Library 110
Thursday, October 28
Create Your Own Web Site with Campusguides
3 to 4 p.m.
Library 307
Monday, November 1
Faculty Writing Retreat
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
IWS, Library 150
Tuesday, November 2
Junior Faculty Luncheon: Get Another Life
Noon to 1:20 p.m.
Library 110
To RSVP email us at CTL@stjohns.edu or call ext. 1859 .
Center for Teaching and Learning
Newsletter
October 2010
Vol. 16, No 2 Using the Web to Engage Students: Part I
Maura C. Flannery (College of Professional Studies, flannerm@stjohns.edu)
There are as many ways to use the Web in teaching as there are teachers. In this series of articles I’ll ex-plore a few of them. I am hardly suggesting that you use them all; that would lead to mental overheat-ing for both you and your students. Rather, think of this series as a smorgasbord on which I am tempt-ing you with a variety of delicacies, some of which you might ignore and others you might want to really dig into. After some preliminary remarks, I’ll focus on some resources that could be used in a vari-ety of disciplines. Future articles will deal with mapping, image archives, communication tools, and re-search tools.
Why Use the Web
Everyday there are more and more resources available on the Web. They can bring variety into the class-room and using them can also help students learn information literacy skills: how to evaluate informa-tion and dig down into sites to find needed items. This is the world students will inhabit and just as we introduce students to the books and journal articles we have found useful, we can do the same with web resources.
Metaphors
Metaphors abound in the world of technology, in part as a way to make that world more accessible to neophytes. The Web is one of those metaphors that has been so well-worn that it is hardly noticed as such. Two newer metaphors that have a bearing on teaching are cloud computing and open education. The cloud is the world of computer storage space composed of the vast array of servers all over the world. While in the past, you probably stored your word processing files on your hard drive, now you can store them on SkyDrive, a Microsoft product that you can access from your St. John’s Central home-page (if you need help with setting up an account, just contact the Technology Learning Center). The advantage of storing information in the cloud, is that you can access it from any computer. Open educa-tion means that teaching is less insular because faculty can access resources created by other faculty. Merlot is a huge database containing links to all kinds of online resources faculty in many disciplines have created. Another is the MIT Open Courseware initiative, where more and more of that university’s courses are available online. Another way to look at open education is that you no longer have to limit yourself and your students to one textbook, but can open things up by using the wealth of reading ma-terial available on the Web.
A Few Things to Remember
If your head is spinning from the variety of technology tools and resources available, don’t despair. Start small. Try just one new tool, and share just a portion of some great Web resource with your stu-dents. It is definitely a good idea to know a resource well before you use it in class. Don’t try to do web searching while you are teaching, unless you are just trying to find the date someone was born, or some other simple piece of information. Anything more can lead to problems: a really tacky pop-up or redi-rection to some inappropriate site. Even when you stick to what you think is an academic topic, you never know where it will lead. DNA, for example, stands for Dance New Amsterdam. One day, I was
Center for Teaching and Learning
Newsletter
October 2010
Vol. 16, No 2 searching at home, not in class (thankfully), for a clip of an educational film on YouTube. It turned out that its title was also the title of two totally inappropriate films. All this searching for sites and learning new tools is time consuming, but it’s also a great personal learning experience. On the Web we are all students, and what better way to approach teaching than as a perpetual student.
Treasure Troves TED Talks If you haven’t discovered this site, then you are probably going to spend some time exploring it. The talks vary in length, but are short enough to show in class. They do have a certain breathless quality, but they are filled with fascinating ideas by leaders from many different fields. I think it would be diffi-cult to find a discipline that isn’t represented here in some way. I am now rush-ing to finish this article so I can look at one with the title “The Roots of Plant In-telligence.” The Smithsonian website is, as you would image, absolutely huge just like the institution itself. Many of its resources are available for you to use on your Web-site, because this is a government site. Library of Congress site is also amazingly rich, and available for your use. Archive.org is a place to find copyright-free resources including books, images, videos, and audio recordings. This is also the home of the WayBackMachine which will take you back to what a website looked like at some point in the past. This is great when your favorite site has been redesigned, and now you are clue-less as to where to find things. The Census Bureau may not seem like a very interesting site, but think about it—where else would you find so much information about what is going on in the US now and has happened in the past. Globalization 101 is a site you will want to explore if you are looking for ways to infuse a more international perspective into your teaching. This is rich portal that provides links to a wealth of resources; the Issues in Depth page alone is phenomenal. Blogs and Wikis in Your Field—I can’t guess what the blogs and wikis in your dis-cipline are, but I can assume that there are a number of them and that they are worth exploring. They not only can provide interesting insights you can share with students, but they can nourish your own research as well.
A Grand Web
I must admit that most of these resources were pointed out to me by others. I was going to mention a number of people by name, but as I began to list them, I real-ized that I could never manage to include everyone. Why? Because just like the Web itself, the way we use this resource is web-like, with one person mentioning a site, which another person then gives hints on using, and so on. It is like Darwin’s tangled bank—there’s a grandeur to it.
Create Your Own Web Site with Campusguides
Want to learn how to easily create and publish your own Web site. This workshop will include a brief introduction to Campusguides and its various uses at St. John’s. Please bring your laptop for this hands-on training.
Date: Thursday, October 28
Time: 3 to 4 p.m.
Location: St. Augustine Hall room 307
To register: Contact the CTL at CTL@stjohns.edu or at ext. 1859.
Page 3
Center for Teaching and Learning
CENTER FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING
DIRECTOR:
Maura C. Flannery
ASSISTANT TO THE DIRECTOR:
Lisa Getman
DEPARTMENTAL
ASSISTANT:
Judy Lam
2010-2012 FELLOWS:
Jennifer Baum
Sophia Bell
Caroline Burns
Tracey Anne Cooper
William Gangi
Kevin Rioux
2009-2011 FELLOWS:
Jennifer Chiu
Caroline Fuchs
Stephen Llano
Qi Lu
Kathleen Marks
Benjamin Silliman
CAMPUS GUIDES:
CTL TEACHING AND LEARNING FORUM
The site’s main aim is to highlight the great teaching strategies developed by St. John’s faculty.
Please visit: http://stjohns.edu.campusguides.com/ctlforum.
FACULTY NEWS
If you would like to send an entry to “Faculty News,” the deadline for the No-vember issue is Novem-ber 2. We prefer that you email the informa-tion to CTL@stjohns.edu. Please have your en-tries follow the style presented in “Faculty News.” Page 4
Center for Teaching and Learning
Faculty News
Professor Elizabeth Albert (Discover New York, alberte@stjohns.edu) showed three paintings in the group exhibition, “Quixotic Beast,” at the Under Minerva Gallery in Brooklyn.
Professor Linda Butti (Fine Arts, but-til@stjohns.edu) gave a lecture on “Frida Kahlo” at St. John’s University (September 2010); her work has been displayed in the “Fall Invitational” at Andrews Art Museum (October-November 2010) in a benefit for the NJ Foundation for the Blind hosted by the American Society of Contem-porary Artists (October 2010) and in the “Creativity Continues” Invitational Italian Artists exhibit at Westchester Community College (October-November 2010).
Dr. Zhe-Sheng Chen (Pharmaceutical Sciences, chenz@stjohns.edu) received a grant for his anti-cancer study of Chinese herbs from Primary Care Medicine Association (October 2010); gave a talk, “Advances in Personalized Chemotherapy for Cancer and Anticancer Drug Research,” at the First Congress (Guangzhou, China); gave seminars at Central South University (Changsha, China) and Chinese University of Hong Kong (China); invited two visiting scholars Dr. Junjiang (John) Chen (MD., Guangdong Pharmaceutical Univer-sity, China) and Miss Qisi Lu (medical student, Southern Medical University, China) to work at his laboratory; presented with students two pa-pers, “Analogues of OSI-930, a Novel Duel c-kit and KDR Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor, Reverse ABCG2-mediated Multidrug Resistance,” and “PDE Inhibitors as New MDR Modulators” at the annual North American ABC Genetic Workshop National Cancer Institute-Frederick, MD (September 2009).
Professor Connie J. Frisch-Cherniak (Fine Arts, frischcc@stjohns.edu) was the featured photogra-pher for "Illusions" at CPG Gallery in Staten Is-land (September-October 2010).
Dr. Maura C. Flannery (Computer Science, Mathe-matics and Science, flannerm@stjohns.edu) pre-sented a paper, “The Botanist as Artist” at the Botany 2010 Conference in Providence, RI (August 2010) and published an article, “Mimicking Nature, or At Least Trying To,” in The
American Biology Teacher (September 2010).
Dr. Joseph A. Giacalone (Economics and Finance, giacaloj@stjohns.edu) presented a paper, “Medical Tourism: Profiling an Emerging Indus-try,” at the annual meeting of the Northeast Business and Economics Association in Morris-town, NJ (October 2010).
Dr. Anna D. Martin (Economics and Finance, martina@stjohns.edu) co-authored the article, "CEO Gender: Effects on Valuation and Risk,” in Quarterly Journal of Finance and Accounting (2009).
Dr. Susan A. Maurer (Humanities, maurers@ stjohns.edu) published the book, The Spirit of Enthusiasm: A History of the Catholic Charis-matic Renewal 1967-2000 (University Press of America, 2010).
Dr. Sandra E. Reznik (Pharmaceutical Sciences, rezniks@stjohns.edu) published a letter to the Editor in Ethics and Medics (2010), in response to a commentary on her article entitled "Plan B: How Does It Work?" that was published in Health Progress (2010); was the featured speaker in a teleconference panel discussion, focused on the mechanisms of action of various emergency contraceptives, sponsored by the Na-tional Institute of Reproductive Health (September 2010 ).
Dr. Charles Wankel (Management, wankelc@ stjohns.edu) published the book, Cutting-Edge Social Media Approaches to Business Education: Teaching with LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Sec-ond Life, and Blogs (Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, 2010); appointed editor of a new series published by the Emerald Publishing Group (Bingley, UK) entitled Cutting-Edge Tech-nologies in Higher Education; appointed as co-editor of a Palgrave Macmillan (New York) series entitled Global Sustainability through Busi-ness; received the Outstanding Service Award of the Academy of Management’s Organizations and the Natural Environment Division at its Montreal meeting (August 2010).
Page 5
Vol. 16, No 2
Vincentian Mission: Opportunity and Responsibility-No.XXIX in the Series: Ambiguity and Ethics
Paul Gyllenhammer (St. Johns College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, gyllenhp@stjohns.edu)
In this Series, Vincentian Research Fellows from across the University share their experiences in actualiz-ing the mission through their research, teaching and service. Below, Dr. Paul Gyllenhammer describes his efforts to assist students who have had little exposure to philosophy, grow in knowledge of outstanding philosophers but also to find place in their own lives for “reflection time to judge and to govern our-selves responsibly” and “to live honestly.” His approach facilitates the Mission statement concept: “analyze and articulate clearly what is, but also develop the ethical and aesthetic values to imagine and help realize what might be.”
Every year, I teach philosophy courses to undergraduate freshmen students at St. John’s. The vast major-ity of the freshmen have never taken such a course before and they come to class with a broad sense that philosophy raises odd questions, such as, “If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?” They are, of course, correct in this assumption. Indeed, the spirit of philosophy is centered on perennial questions, which obviously have no definitive answers. Wisdom (sophia) springs from the capacity to question, only to the degree that we learn to love (philia) the process of question-ing. What on earth could this mean, and how can this be taught in the classroom? First, let’s look into the meaning of the love of wisdom.
In a world where results matter, philosophy is a peculiar discipline. Socrates, an icon of the philosophical life, is renowned for saying that, “Human wisdom is worthless.” Still he “Knows that he does not know anything,” and, in this way, he possesses wisdom. Is Socrates kidding? What kind of wisdom comes from claiming not to know anything? Isn’t Socrates simply opening the door to a live-and-let-live kind of atti-tude for, if people cannot know anything, then why bother arguing for this or that? But here’s the trick: Socrates’s central task in life is to reveal to others that they do entertain hard-headed prejudices about the nature of things as if they were unquestionable. As the “gadfly” of Athens (you know, the green colored horse-fly that bites off chunks of flesh), Socrates’s mission is to expose a person’s prejudices in public, leaving the interrogated person angry and humiliated. Of course, Socrates does not directly in-tend to humiliate the person. The humiliation is a result of having the truth of one’s intellectual arro-gance revealed in the glaring daylight of an on-looking public. And that arrogance, says Socrates, con-sists in “Thinking you know something when you do not.”
Socrates’s mission is distinctly political. He is an idol buster for the good of the community. So, when he sees someone who is a leader in the community, he senses that this leadership role has gone to the per-son’s head. People look up to the leader for answers, and put their trust in his or her wisdom. Unfortu-nately, Socrates sees that the wisdom proffered by the leader is more godly than human. The weakness of the people is found in their tendency to need an earthly god to lead them, and there is always some-one willing to exploit this weakness and take on the role. By exposing the ignorance of the leader to the people, the humiliation that ensues is clarifying and healthy for everyone. The leader is just one of us, a fallible human through and through. The leader’s ultimate sense of the nature of things is riddled with vagueness and ambiguity.
In the governance of ourselves, Socrates’s overtly political mission can serve as a guide. There are two dimensions to the human being: the engaged person and the reflective person. Is it possible to train our-selves to see the destructive prejudices that govern our own practical affairs? Is it possible to be a Socra-tes to oneself? This is seemingly impossible since the reflective self would have to come to the practical self with a view from outside of itself. How could this be done? I like to think that this is where my phi-losophy class can help.
(continued on next page) Page 6
Center for Teaching and Learning
In the freshmen course, I take a historical approach to philosophy, spending enough time with about four or five great thinkers, who have differing grand narratives or comprehensive views on the funda-mental questions of life, so that students acquire a real sense of the inner workings of those philosophi-cal positions. I let the students know that learning about these thinkers is not some ritualistic exercise developed by philosophy departments to keep them in business. To learn the thoughts of the great thinkers is to allow ourselves the reflective room to judge and to govern ourselves responsibly. The great thinkers are like Socratic friends, who can help us be on guard for those prejudices that rule our lives without our open and informed consent. Philosophy can help us be more objective about our-selves, which for Socrates is made possible by the virtue of humility. Philosophy cannot give answers to the ultimate questions of existence, but it can help us navigate our lives honestly.
Do You Want to Become More Engaged with Students?
The Department of Student Life would like to collaborate with you and provide students with opportu-nities to engage with faculty outside the classroom. Here are three ways you can become more in-volved:
Become a Faculty Moderator
Through our “FOCUS” program, faculty members can assist student organizations by serving as a faculty moderator. Faculty moderators are able to share their wisdom, experience, resources, and influence to help organizations provide high-quality experiences. The faculty involved with student organizations will create the critical co-curricular academic link between outside-the-classroom programming and the academic experience. The leadership of the student organization, faculty member, and Student Life liaison will work to facilitate meaningful and purposeful interactions between the organization and its leaders.
Faculty Forums
We would like to create a “Faculty Forum” series where faculty members can have engaging roundtable discussions with students in an informal setting throughout the year. Faculty members can address top-ics in their field of study or research.
Involved in our Leadership Programs
Student Life provides 3 Student Leadership Programs: LEAD Student Leadership Program, Women In Leadership Program, and Servant Leadership Program. We are looking for more faculty members to serve as facilitators of the workshops we offer. For more information about the Student Leadership Programs, please visit our website: www.stjohns.edu/campus/queens/studentlife/leadershipdev
If you are interested in becoming involved in any of the above Programs, please contact Natalie Maio, Associate Director of Leadership Development, at 718-990-2103 or maion@stjohns.edu. Student Life looks forward to working with you this year!!
Faculty and Student Engagement
The Office of Student Life hosts a large number of events which students and faculty can enjoy to-gether. These are opportunities for you to interact with your students outside of the classroom. Here are a couple of items that might be of interest to you and your students: Student Engagement Brochure “Reading Memoirs” Book Discussion Group Page 7
Vol. 16, No 2
The Office of Grants and Sponsored Research (OGSR): Complete Support for your Sponsored Projects
Jared Littman (Director, Office of Grants and Sponsored Research, littmanj@stjohns.edu)
The Office of Grants and Sponsored Research is a full-service sponsored programs office, dedicated to assisting University faculty and administrators with grant proposals and projects. The office assists in: identification of appropriate funding opportunities; preparation of complete and responsive grant pro-posals; regulatory compliance issues; negotiation of agreements and contracts; and establishing sub-contractual arrangements with other universities, labs and hospitals. In line with the University’s Strate-gic Plan, this year we particularly encourage proposals that seek to advance the strategic themes of Mis-sion, Engagement and Global.
Additional information is available at http://intranet.stjohns.edu/about/departments/provost/grants. A few opportunities and programs are summarized below. To learn more about them or other sponsored program or research issues, please contact us and we will be happy to assist you. The office is located in Newman Hall, Room 108, telephone: (718) 990-6276.
Some Upcoming Events and Opportunities: Grant Workshops
Despite the challenging economic climate, grant opportunities continue to be available in both aca-demic and administrative areas. The Office of Grants and Sponsored Research (OGSR) offers workshops this semester to provide essential information about grant writing procedures and policies. Please en-courage members of your areas to take advantage of these workshops which are led by Jared Littman, Director of OGSR. They will be held in St. Augustine Hall (Library) Room 308 from 12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.
Thursday, October 21 Creating a Budget for a Grant Proposal
Tuesday, October 26 The Proposal Submission Process in an Electronic Era
To register: Please respond to Adrianna Berlingerio at berlinga@stjohns.edu.
National Institute of Health (NIH) Application Cycle
Other Events
Research Collaboration Luncheon – Meet and collaborate with other St. John’s researchers
Fulbright Scholar Program Workshop - Meet with a representative from the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES)
INFO Ed International SPIN Profile / Funding Area of Interest Form – Tools to assist in finding funding opportunities based on your research interests.
NIH Program
Dollar Limit
Award period limit
Applications Due
Research Project Grant Pro-gram (R01)
Generally no specific dollar limit
3 – 5 years
October 5, February 5, and June 5.
Small Grant Program (R03)
Maximum $50,000 of di-rect costs per year.
2 years; not re-newable
October 16, February 16, and June 16
Support for Conferences and Scientific Meetings (R13)
Amounts vary
Up to 5 years
April 12, August 12 and De-cember 12
Academic Research Enhance-ment Award (AREA, R15)
$300,000 in direct cost over entire project period
Up to 3 years
October 25, February 25, and June 25
Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Award (R21)
275,000 in direct cost over 2 years
2 years
October 16, February 16, and June 16
Clinical Trial Planning Grant (R34) Program
Usually maximum $100,000 direct costs
Usually held to one year
October 16, February 16, and June 16 Page 8
Center for Teaching and Learning
Responding to the Higher Education Act: Student Consumer Information Page
Christine M. Goodwin (Director of Data Management, Analysis, and Reporting, Office of Institutional Re-search, goodwinc@stjohns.edu)
The Higher Education Act requires colleges and universities to disclose particular information to students and parents as well as to potential students/parents. To make it easier, St. John’s has established a one-stop Student Consumer Web Page found at http://www.stjohns.edu/about/general/consumer_information.stj that contains links to these important topics. It is also a resource for faculty, staff, and administrators to use when responding to questions about the university or assisting students in finding information. Information available includes financial aid, student diversity, retention rates, graduation rates, career center, computer use and file sharing, health and safety, students with disabili-ties, and campus security. Feel free to take a peek yourself or provide the link the next time someone asks you a question about St. John’s.
WAC and the CTL Invite You to a Faculty Writing Retreat
The Faculty Writing Retreat on Monday, November 1 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. offers you the opportunity to commit to a day of writing surrounded by your colleagues who will have made the same commitment as you. Published research – and our colleagues at other institutions who regularly host faculty writing retreats – all tell us the positive energy of being around faculty peers who are also writing (and strug-gling to write) helps faculty get substantial work done, even in one day.
As to the schedule for the retreat, you will arrive and begin writing. We are certain there will be much writing advice to be shared during lunch, which will be served at 12:30pm. And, if you would like some feedback on your writing, we are quite sure you will be able to find another colleague who would also like feedback – and the IWS has wonderful spaces for such exchanges. But you are not required to share your writing or seek feedback. This day is about spending time writing, writing, revising, writing, revising and writing among your colleagues who are doing the same; then ending each day by celebrating the feeling of having gotten some substantial writing done.
There’s good evidence that writing retreats are valuable, especially if faculty arrive with realistic goals, use the weeks leading up to the retreat preparing to write (researching, thinking, organizing), and use the weeks following to keep writing without losing momentum. Perhaps some faculty writing/response groups might even form out of this retreat. Research shows such groups help faculty become more pro-ductive.
We hope you will be able to join us. Please remember that participation is limited; please RSVP at ctl@stjohns.edu or ext. 1859. If you have any questions, email Anne Geller (gellera@stjohns.edu) or Maura Flannery (flannerm@stjohns.edu).
If you would like to learn more about writing retreats or you are interested in research about faculty writing productivity, go to the CTL Forum Writing Page at http://stjohns.campusguides.com/aecontent.php?pid=71651&sid=589816.
Location: Institute for Writing Studies, Library Room 150, Queens Campus
To Register: Contact the CTL at ctl@stjohns.edu or ext. 1859; participation is limited. This newsletter is
published monthly during the academic year by the
Center for Teaching and Learning.
Managing Editor:
Lisa Getman
CTL
www.stjohns.edu/CTL
Journal Club: Lost Arts of Teaching
Does technology really im-prove teaching? Is technol-ogy a substitute for good teaching? These are some of the questions suggested by this article. Please join us for a discussion of what constitutes good teaching and how technology can foster it.
To read the article: “Lost Arts of Teaching”
Wednesday, October 27
1:20 to 3 p.m.
Library room 110, Queens Campus
To register: Call the CTL at ext. 1859 or email us at CTL@stjohns.edu.
Classrooms in the Clouds
Please join Online Learning and Services for “Classrooms in the Clouds” a series of brown bag lunches devoted to exploring issues in distance learning peda-gogy, hybrid or blended courses, and other varieties of Web-assisted instruc-tion. The focus of the lunches will be on faculty group discussion; it will be a place to bring new paradigms and innovations, share best practices, and discuss problems as they arise. Topics may include: constructing community, develop-ing a synchronic spontaneity, using wikis, blogs, gaming, podcasting, social net-working, and exploring many other tools for teaching online across disciplines.
We are looking for faculty who would be willing to make a short presentation (15 minutes) at the start of lunch. Do you have a pedagogical tool, recent in-novation, or notable experience to share? Please contact Dr. Jennifer Travis, travisj@stjohns.edu to schedule your talk.
Meetings are scheduled for Tuesdays, November 9th and 30th in Bent Hall 277 from 12-1 p.m. For additional information contact Elizabeth Alexander at: al-exande@stjohns.edu.
Blackboard Workshops
These Blackboard 6 workshops cover structure and organization, functionalities and navigation. Some of the new functionalities include editing your own posts, creating course announcements, the ability to see who is online in your class and IM to them, file, quiz and message board functions, along with stu-dent tracking features.
Faculty without previous online or hybrid courses will need to learn Blackboard 6 to create new courses within empty Blackboard 6 shells.
Join these Blackboard 6 workshops to learn the valuable skills needed to navi-gate the new Blackboard 6 with ease. The rooms have computers, however, if you have a laptop, it is recommended to bring it to the workshop so you are working on a machine which is familiar to you.
Basic Intro, Announcements, Mail and Discussion Board - Wednesday, October 20, 1:30-2:30 in SUL 214
Students, Files and Backups - Thursday, November 4, 3:00-4:00 in SUL 205
Grades, Assignments and Quizzes - Tuesday, November 16, 1:30-2:30 in SUL 205
Questions can be directed to Prof. Edith Chasen-Cerreta, Institute of Core Stud-ies, Scientific Inquiry at: chasene@stjohns.edu.

Click tabs to swap between content that is broken into logical sections.

CTL October Newsletter
The CTL Newsletter is distributed electronically every month during the academic year.
Highlights from our October issue include:
Using the Web to Engage Students: Part I page 2
Maura C. Flannery
Create Your Own Web Site with Campusguides page 3
Faculty News page 4
Vincentian Mission: Opportunity and Responsibility-No. XXIX
in the Series: Ambiguity and Ethics page 5
Paul Gyllenhammer
Do You Want to Become More Engaged with Students page 6
The Office of Grants and Sponsored Research (OGSR): Complete
Support for your Sponsored Projects page 7
Jared Littman
Responding to the Higher Education Act: Student Consumer
Information page page 8
Christine M. Goodwin
WAC and the CTL Invite You to a Faculty Writing Retreat page 8
Classroom in the Clouds Brown-bag Lunch Series page 9
Blackboard Workshops page 9
Faculty News: If you would like to send an entry to “Faculty News,” the deadline for the November issue is November 2. We prefer that you email the information to CTL@stjohns.edu. Please have your entries follow the style presented in “Faculty News.”
Remember: The best places to look for faculty-related information are the CTL Webpage and the CTL Teaching and Learning Forum.
CTL Fall 2010
Calendar of Events
October Dates to Note!!
Thursday, October 21
Got Mission? - Integrating the University’s Mission into Your Teaching
10:30 to 11:50 a.m.
Rosati Conference Room, Staten Island Campus
Monday, October 25
Faculty Writing Initiative: Dealing with Obstacles to Writing
1:30 to 3 p.m.
IWS, Library 150
Tuesday, October 26
Got Mission? - Integrating the University’s Mission into Your Teaching
1:30 to 2:50 p.m.
Library 110
Wednesday, October 27
Journal Club: Lost Arts of Teaching
1:20 to 3 p.m.
Library 110
Thursday, October 28
Create Your Own Web Site with Campusguides
3 to 4 p.m.
Library 307
Monday, November 1
Faculty Writing Retreat
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
IWS, Library 150
Tuesday, November 2
Junior Faculty Luncheon: Get Another Life
Noon to 1:20 p.m.
Library 110
To RSVP email us at CTL@stjohns.edu or call ext. 1859 .
Center for Teaching and Learning
Newsletter
October 2010
Vol. 16, No 2 Using the Web to Engage Students: Part I
Maura C. Flannery (College of Professional Studies, flannerm@stjohns.edu)
There are as many ways to use the Web in teaching as there are teachers. In this series of articles I’ll ex-plore a few of them. I am hardly suggesting that you use them all; that would lead to mental overheat-ing for both you and your students. Rather, think of this series as a smorgasbord on which I am tempt-ing you with a variety of delicacies, some of which you might ignore and others you might want to really dig into. After some preliminary remarks, I’ll focus on some resources that could be used in a vari-ety of disciplines. Future articles will deal with mapping, image archives, communication tools, and re-search tools.
Why Use the Web
Everyday there are more and more resources available on the Web. They can bring variety into the class-room and using them can also help students learn information literacy skills: how to evaluate informa-tion and dig down into sites to find needed items. This is the world students will inhabit and just as we introduce students to the books and journal articles we have found useful, we can do the same with web resources.
Metaphors
Metaphors abound in the world of technology, in part as a way to make that world more accessible to neophytes. The Web is one of those metaphors that has been so well-worn that it is hardly noticed as such. Two newer metaphors that have a bearing on teaching are cloud computing and open education. The cloud is the world of computer storage space composed of the vast array of servers all over the world. While in the past, you probably stored your word processing files on your hard drive, now you can store them on SkyDrive, a Microsoft product that you can access from your St. John’s Central home-page (if you need help with setting up an account, just contact the Technology Learning Center). The advantage of storing information in the cloud, is that you can access it from any computer. Open educa-tion means that teaching is less insular because faculty can access resources created by other faculty. Merlot is a huge database containing links to all kinds of online resources faculty in many disciplines have created. Another is the MIT Open Courseware initiative, where more and more of that university’s courses are available online. Another way to look at open education is that you no longer have to limit yourself and your students to one textbook, but can open things up by using the wealth of reading ma-terial available on the Web.
A Few Things to Remember
If your head is spinning from the variety of technology tools and resources available, don’t despair. Start small. Try just one new tool, and share just a portion of some great Web resource with your stu-dents. It is definitely a good idea to know a resource well before you use it in class. Don’t try to do web searching while you are teaching, unless you are just trying to find the date someone was born, or some other simple piece of information. Anything more can lead to problems: a really tacky pop-up or redi-rection to some inappropriate site. Even when you stick to what you think is an academic topic, you never know where it will lead. DNA, for example, stands for Dance New Amsterdam. One day, I was
Center for Teaching and Learning
Newsletter
October 2010
Vol. 16, No 2 searching at home, not in class (thankfully), for a clip of an educational film on YouTube. It turned out that its title was also the title of two totally inappropriate films. All this searching for sites and learning new tools is time consuming, but it’s also a great personal learning experience. On the Web we are all students, and what better way to approach teaching than as a perpetual student.
Treasure Troves TED Talks If you haven’t discovered this site, then you are probably going to spend some time exploring it. The talks vary in length, but are short enough to show in class. They do have a certain breathless quality, but they are filled with fascinating ideas by leaders from many different fields. I think it would be diffi-cult to find a discipline that isn’t represented here in some way. I am now rush-ing to finish this article so I can look at one with the title “The Roots of Plant In-telligence.” The Smithsonian website is, as you would image, absolutely huge just like the institution itself. Many of its resources are available for you to use on your Web-site, because this is a government site. Library of Congress site is also amazingly rich, and available for your use. Archive.org is a place to find copyright-free resources including books, images, videos, and audio recordings. This is also the home of the WayBackMachine which will take you back to what a website looked like at some point in the past. This is great when your favorite site has been redesigned, and now you are clue-less as to where to find things. The Census Bureau may not seem like a very interesting site, but think about it—where else would you find so much information about what is going on in the US now and has happened in the past. Globalization 101 is a site you will want to explore if you are looking for ways to infuse a more international perspective into your teaching. This is rich portal that provides links to a wealth of resources; the Issues in Depth page alone is phenomenal. Blogs and Wikis in Your Field—I can’t guess what the blogs and wikis in your dis-cipline are, but I can assume that there are a number of them and that they are worth exploring. They not only can provide interesting insights you can share with students, but they can nourish your own research as well.
A Grand Web
I must admit that most of these resources were pointed out to me by others. I was going to mention a number of people by name, but as I began to list them, I real-ized that I could never manage to include everyone. Why? Because just like the Web itself, the way we use this resource is web-like, with one person mentioning a site, which another person then gives hints on using, and so on. It is like Darwin’s tangled bank—there’s a grandeur to it.
Create Your Own Web Site with Campusguides
Want to learn how to easily create and publish your own Web site. This workshop will include a brief introduction to Campusguides and its various uses at St. John’s. Please bring your laptop for this hands-on training.
Date: Thursday, October 28
Time: 3 to 4 p.m.
Location: St. Augustine Hall room 307
To register: Contact the CTL at CTL@stjohns.edu or at ext. 1859.
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Center for Teaching and Learning
CENTER FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING
DIRECTOR:
Maura C. Flannery
ASSISTANT TO THE DIRECTOR:
Lisa Getman
DEPARTMENTAL
ASSISTANT:
Judy Lam
2010-2012 FELLOWS:
Jennifer Baum
Sophia Bell
Caroline Burns
Tracey Anne Cooper
William Gangi
Kevin Rioux
2009-2011 FELLOWS:
Jennifer Chiu
Caroline Fuchs
Stephen Llano
Qi Lu
Kathleen Marks
Benjamin Silliman
CAMPUS GUIDES:
CTL TEACHING AND LEARNING FORUM
The site’s main aim is to highlight the great teaching strategies developed by St. John’s faculty.
Please visit: http://stjohns.edu.campusguides.com/ctlforum.
FACULTY NEWS
If you would like to send an entry to “Faculty News,” the deadline for the No-vember issue is Novem-ber 2. We prefer that you email the informa-tion to CTL@stjohns.edu. Please have your en-tries follow the style presented in “Faculty News.” Page 4
Center for Teaching and Learning
Faculty News
Professor Elizabeth Albert (Discover New York, alberte@stjohns.edu) showed three paintings in the group exhibition, “Quixotic Beast,” at the Under Minerva Gallery in Brooklyn.
Professor Linda Butti (Fine Arts, but-til@stjohns.edu) gave a lecture on “Frida Kahlo” at St. John’s University (September 2010); her work has been displayed in the “Fall Invitational” at Andrews Art Museum (October-November 2010) in a benefit for the NJ Foundation for the Blind hosted by the American Society of Contem-porary Artists (October 2010) and in the “Creativity Continues” Invitational Italian Artists exhibit at Westchester Community College (October-November 2010).
Dr. Zhe-Sheng Chen (Pharmaceutical Sciences, chenz@stjohns.edu) received a grant for his anti-cancer study of Chinese herbs from Primary Care Medicine Association (October 2010); gave a talk, “Advances in Personalized Chemotherapy for Cancer and Anticancer Drug Research,” at the First Congress (Guangzhou, China); gave seminars at Central South University (Changsha, China) and Chinese University of Hong Kong (China); invited two visiting scholars Dr. Junjiang (John) Chen (MD., Guangdong Pharmaceutical Univer-sity, China) and Miss Qisi Lu (medical student, Southern Medical University, China) to work at his laboratory; presented with students two pa-pers, “Analogues of OSI-930, a Novel Duel c-kit and KDR Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor, Reverse ABCG2-mediated Multidrug Resistance,” and “PDE Inhibitors as New MDR Modulators” at the annual North American ABC Genetic Workshop National Cancer Institute-Frederick, MD (September 2009).
Professor Connie J. Frisch-Cherniak (Fine Arts, frischcc@stjohns.edu) was the featured photogra-pher for "Illusions" at CPG Gallery in Staten Is-land (September-October 2010).
Dr. Maura C. Flannery (Computer Science, Mathe-matics and Science, flannerm@stjohns.edu) pre-sented a paper, “The Botanist as Artist” at the Botany 2010 Conference in Providence, RI (August 2010) and published an article, “Mimicking Nature, or At Least Trying To,” in The
American Biology Teacher (September 2010).
Dr. Joseph A. Giacalone (Economics and Finance, giacaloj@stjohns.edu) presented a paper, “Medical Tourism: Profiling an Emerging Indus-try,” at the annual meeting of the Northeast Business and Economics Association in Morris-town, NJ (October 2010).
Dr. Anna D. Martin (Economics and Finance, martina@stjohns.edu) co-authored the article, "CEO Gender: Effects on Valuation and Risk,” in Quarterly Journal of Finance and Accounting (2009).
Dr. Susan A. Maurer (Humanities, maurers@ stjohns.edu) published the book, The Spirit of Enthusiasm: A History of the Catholic Charis-matic Renewal 1967-2000 (University Press of America, 2010).
Dr. Sandra E. Reznik (Pharmaceutical Sciences, rezniks@stjohns.edu) published a letter to the Editor in Ethics and Medics (2010), in response to a commentary on her article entitled "Plan B: How Does It Work?" that was published in Health Progress (2010); was the featured speaker in a teleconference panel discussion, focused on the mechanisms of action of various emergency contraceptives, sponsored by the Na-tional Institute of Reproductive Health (September 2010 ).
Dr. Charles Wankel (Management, wankelc@ stjohns.edu) published the book, Cutting-Edge Social Media Approaches to Business Education: Teaching with LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Sec-ond Life, and Blogs (Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, 2010); appointed editor of a new series published by the Emerald Publishing Group (Bingley, UK) entitled Cutting-Edge Tech-nologies in Higher Education; appointed as co-editor of a Palgrave Macmillan (New York) series entitled Global Sustainability through Busi-ness; received the Outstanding Service Award of the Academy of Management’s Organizations and the Natural Environment Division at its Montreal meeting (August 2010).
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Vol. 16, No 2
Vincentian Mission: Opportunity and Responsibility-No.XXIX in the Series: Ambiguity and Ethics
Paul Gyllenhammer (St. Johns College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, gyllenhp@stjohns.edu)
In this Series, Vincentian Research Fellows from across the University share their experiences in actualiz-ing the mission through their research, teaching and service. Below, Dr. Paul Gyllenhammer describes his efforts to assist students who have had little exposure to philosophy, grow in knowledge of outstanding philosophers but also to find place in their own lives for “reflection time to judge and to govern our-selves responsibly” and “to live honestly.” His approach facilitates the Mission statement concept: “analyze and articulate clearly what is, but also develop the ethical and aesthetic values to imagine and help realize what might be.”
Every year, I teach philosophy courses to undergraduate freshmen students at St. John’s. The vast major-ity of the freshmen have never taken such a course before and they come to class with a broad sense that philosophy raises odd questions, such as, “If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?” They are, of course, correct in this assumption. Indeed, the spirit of philosophy is centered on perennial questions, which obviously have no definitive answers. Wisdom (sophia) springs from the capacity to question, only to the degree that we learn to love (philia) the process of question-ing. What on earth could this mean, and how can this be taught in the classroom? First, let’s look into the meaning of the love of wisdom.
In a world where results matter, philosophy is a peculiar discipline. Socrates, an icon of the philosophical life, is renowned for saying that, “Human wisdom is worthless.” Still he “Knows that he does not know anything,” and, in this way, he possesses wisdom. Is Socrates kidding? What kind of wisdom comes from claiming not to know anything? Isn’t Socrates simply opening the door to a live-and-let-live kind of atti-tude for, if people cannot know anything, then why bother arguing for this or that? But here’s the trick: Socrates’s central task in life is to reveal to others that they do entertain hard-headed prejudices about the nature of things as if they were unquestionable. As the “gadfly” of Athens (you know, the green colored horse-fly that bites off chunks of flesh), Socrates’s mission is to expose a person’s prejudices in public, leaving the interrogated person angry and humiliated. Of course, Socrates does not directly in-tend to humiliate the person. The humiliation is a result of having the truth of one’s intellectual arro-gance revealed in the glaring daylight of an on-looking public. And that arrogance, says Socrates, con-sists in “Thinking you know something when you do not.”
Socrates’s mission is distinctly political. He is an idol buster for the good of the community. So, when he sees someone who is a leader in the community, he senses that this leadership role has gone to the per-son’s head. People look up to the leader for answers, and put their trust in his or her wisdom. Unfortu-nately, Socrates sees that the wisdom proffered by the leader is more godly than human. The weakness of the people is found in their tendency to need an earthly god to lead them, and there is always some-one willing to exploit this weakness and take on the role. By exposing the ignorance of the leader to the people, the humiliation that ensues is clarifying and healthy for everyone. The leader is just one of us, a fallible human through and through. The leader’s ultimate sense of the nature of things is riddled with vagueness and ambiguity.
In the governance of ourselves, Socrates’s overtly political mission can serve as a guide. There are two dimensions to the human being: the engaged person and the reflective person. Is it possible to train our-selves to see the destructive prejudices that govern our own practical affairs? Is it possible to be a Socra-tes to oneself? This is seemingly impossible since the reflective self would have to come to the practical self with a view from outside of itself. How could this be done? I like to think that this is where my phi-losophy class can help.
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Center for Teaching and Learning
In the freshmen course, I take a historical approach to philosophy, spending enough time with about four or five great thinkers, who have differing grand narratives or comprehensive views on the funda-mental questions of life, so that students acquire a real sense of the inner workings of those philosophi-cal positions. I let the students know that learning about these thinkers is not some ritualistic exercise developed by philosophy departments to keep them in business. To learn the thoughts of the great thinkers is to allow ourselves the reflective room to judge and to govern ourselves responsibly. The great thinkers are like Socratic friends, who can help us be on guard for those prejudices that rule our lives without our open and informed consent. Philosophy can help us be more objective about our-selves, which for Socrates is made possible by the virtue of humility. Philosophy cannot give answers to the ultimate questions of existence, but it can help us navigate our lives honestly.
Do You Want to Become More Engaged with Students?
The Department of Student Life would like to collaborate with you and provide students with opportu-nities to engage with faculty outside the classroom. Here are three ways you can become more in-volved:
Become a Faculty Moderator
Through our “FOCUS” program, faculty members can assist student organizations by serving as a faculty moderator. Faculty moderators are able to share their wisdom, experience, resources, and influence to help organizations provide high-quality experiences. The faculty involved with student organizations will create the critical co-curricular academic link between outside-the-classroom programming and the academic experience. The leadership of the student organization, faculty member, and Student Life liaison will work to facilitate meaningful and purposeful interactions between the organization and its leaders.
Faculty Forums
We would like to create a “Faculty Forum” series where faculty members can have engaging roundtable discussions with students in an informal setting throughout the year. Faculty members can address top-ics in their field of study or research.
Involved in our Leadership Programs
Student Life provides 3 Student Leadership Programs: LEAD Student Leadership Program, Women In Leadership Program, and Servant Leadership Program. We are looking for more faculty members to serve as facilitators of the workshops we offer. For more information about the Student Leadership Programs, please visit our website: www.stjohns.edu/campus/queens/studentlife/leadershipdev
If you are interested in becoming involved in any of the above Programs, please contact Natalie Maio, Associate Director of Leadership Development, at 718-990-2103 or maion@stjohns.edu. Student Life looks forward to working with you this year!!
Faculty and Student Engagement
The Office of Student Life hosts a large number of events which students and faculty can enjoy to-gether. These are opportunities for you to interact with your students outside of the classroom. Here are a couple of items that might be of interest to you and your students: Student Engagement Brochure “Reading Memoirs” Book Discussion Group Page 7
Vol. 16, No 2
The Office of Grants and Sponsored Research (OGSR): Complete Support for your Sponsored Projects
Jared Littman (Director, Office of Grants and Sponsored Research, littmanj@stjohns.edu)
The Office of Grants and Sponsored Research is a full-service sponsored programs office, dedicated to assisting University faculty and administrators with grant proposals and projects. The office assists in: identification of appropriate funding opportunities; preparation of complete and responsive grant pro-posals; regulatory compliance issues; negotiation of agreements and contracts; and establishing sub-contractual arrangements with other universities, labs and hospitals. In line with the University’s Strate-gic Plan, this year we particularly encourage proposals that seek to advance the strategic themes of Mis-sion, Engagement and Global.
Additional information is available at http://intranet.stjohns.edu/about/departments/provost/grants. A few opportunities and programs are summarized below. To learn more about them or other sponsored program or research issues, please contact us and we will be happy to assist you. The office is located in Newman Hall, Room 108, telephone: (718) 990-6276.
Some Upcoming Events and Opportunities: Grant Workshops
Despite the challenging economic climate, grant opportunities continue to be available in both aca-demic and administrative areas. The Office of Grants and Sponsored Research (OGSR) offers workshops this semester to provide essential information about grant writing procedures and policies. Please en-courage members of your areas to take advantage of these workshops which are led by Jared Littman, Director of OGSR. They will be held in St. Augustine Hall (Library) Room 308 from 12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.
Thursday, October 21 Creating a Budget for a Grant Proposal
Tuesday, October 26 The Proposal Submission Process in an Electronic Era
To register: Please respond to Adrianna Berlingerio at berlinga@stjohns.edu.
National Institute of Health (NIH) Application Cycle
Other Events
Research Collaboration Luncheon – Meet and collaborate with other St. John’s researchers
Fulbright Scholar Program Workshop - Meet with a representative from the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES)
INFO Ed International SPIN Profile / Funding Area of Interest Form – Tools to assist in finding funding opportunities based on your research interests.
NIH Program
Dollar Limit
Award period limit
Applications Due
Research Project Grant Pro-gram (R01)
Generally no specific dollar limit
3 – 5 years
October 5, February 5, and June 5.
Small Grant Program (R03)
Maximum $50,000 of di-rect costs per year.
2 years; not re-newable
October 16, February 16, and June 16
Support for Conferences and Scientific Meetings (R13)
Amounts vary
Up to 5 years
April 12, August 12 and De-cember 12
Academic Research Enhance-ment Award (AREA, R15)
$300,000 in direct cost over entire project period
Up to 3 years
October 25, February 25, and June 25
Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Award (R21)
275,000 in direct cost over 2 years
2 years
October 16, February 16, and June 16
Clinical Trial Planning Grant (R34) Program
Usually maximum $100,000 direct costs
Usually held to one year
October 16, February 16, and June 16 Page 8
Center for Teaching and Learning
Responding to the Higher Education Act: Student Consumer Information Page
Christine M. Goodwin (Director of Data Management, Analysis, and Reporting, Office of Institutional Re-search, goodwinc@stjohns.edu)
The Higher Education Act requires colleges and universities to disclose particular information to students and parents as well as to potential students/parents. To make it easier, St. John’s has established a one-stop Student Consumer Web Page found at http://www.stjohns.edu/about/general/consumer_information.stj that contains links to these important topics. It is also a resource for faculty, staff, and administrators to use when responding to questions about the university or assisting students in finding information. Information available includes financial aid, student diversity, retention rates, graduation rates, career center, computer use and file sharing, health and safety, students with disabili-ties, and campus security. Feel free to take a peek yourself or provide the link the next time someone asks you a question about St. John’s.
WAC and the CTL Invite You to a Faculty Writing Retreat
The Faculty Writing Retreat on Monday, November 1 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. offers you the opportunity to commit to a day of writing surrounded by your colleagues who will have made the same commitment as you. Published research – and our colleagues at other institutions who regularly host faculty writing retreats – all tell us the positive energy of being around faculty peers who are also writing (and strug-gling to write) helps faculty get substantial work done, even in one day.
As to the schedule for the retreat, you will arrive and begin writing. We are certain there will be much writing advice to be shared during lunch, which will be served at 12:30pm. And, if you would like some feedback on your writing, we are quite sure you will be able to find another colleague who would also like feedback – and the IWS has wonderful spaces for such exchanges. But you are not required to share your writing or seek feedback. This day is about spending time writing, writing, revising, writing, revising and writing among your colleagues who are doing the same; then ending each day by celebrating the feeling of having gotten some substantial writing done.
There’s good evidence that writing retreats are valuable, especially if faculty arrive with realistic goals, use the weeks leading up to the retreat preparing to write (researching, thinking, organizing), and use the weeks following to keep writing without losing momentum. Perhaps some faculty writing/response groups might even form out of this retreat. Research shows such groups help faculty become more pro-ductive.
We hope you will be able to join us. Please remember that participation is limited; please RSVP at ctl@stjohns.edu or ext. 1859. If you have any questions, email Anne Geller (gellera@stjohns.edu) or Maura Flannery (flannerm@stjohns.edu).
If you would like to learn more about writing retreats or you are interested in research about faculty writing productivity, go to the CTL Forum Writing Page at http://stjohns.campusguides.com/aecontent.php?pid=71651&sid=589816.
Location: Institute for Writing Studies, Library Room 150, Queens Campus
To Register: Contact the CTL at ctl@stjohns.edu or ext. 1859; participation is limited. This newsletter is
published monthly during the academic year by the
Center for Teaching and Learning.
Managing Editor:
Lisa Getman
CTL
www.stjohns.edu/CTL
Journal Club: Lost Arts of Teaching
Does technology really im-prove teaching? Is technol-ogy a substitute for good teaching? These are some of the questions suggested by this article. Please join us for a discussion of what constitutes good teaching and how technology can foster it.
To read the article: “Lost Arts of Teaching”
Wednesday, October 27
1:20 to 3 p.m.
Library room 110, Queens Campus
To register: Call the CTL at ext. 1859 or email us at CTL@stjohns.edu.
Classrooms in the Clouds
Please join Online Learning and Services for “Classrooms in the Clouds” a series of brown bag lunches devoted to exploring issues in distance learning peda-gogy, hybrid or blended courses, and other varieties of Web-assisted instruc-tion. The focus of the lunches will be on faculty group discussion; it will be a place to bring new paradigms and innovations, share best practices, and discuss problems as they arise. Topics may include: constructing community, develop-ing a synchronic spontaneity, using wikis, blogs, gaming, podcasting, social net-working, and exploring many other tools for teaching online across disciplines.
We are looking for faculty who would be willing to make a short presentation (15 minutes) at the start of lunch. Do you have a pedagogical tool, recent in-novation, or notable experience to share? Please contact Dr. Jennifer Travis, travisj@stjohns.edu to schedule your talk.
Meetings are scheduled for Tuesdays, November 9th and 30th in Bent Hall 277 from 12-1 p.m. For additional information contact Elizabeth Alexander at: al-exande@stjohns.edu.
Blackboard Workshops
These Blackboard 6 workshops cover structure and organization, functionalities and navigation. Some of the new functionalities include editing your own posts, creating course announcements, the ability to see who is online in your class and IM to them, file, quiz and message board functions, along with stu-dent tracking features.
Faculty without previous online or hybrid courses will need to learn Blackboard 6 to create new courses within empty Blackboard 6 shells.
Join these Blackboard 6 workshops to learn the valuable skills needed to navi-gate the new Blackboard 6 with ease. The rooms have computers, however, if you have a laptop, it is recommended to bring it to the workshop so you are working on a machine which is familiar to you.
Basic Intro, Announcements, Mail and Discussion Board - Wednesday, October 20, 1:30-2:30 in SUL 214
Students, Files and Backups - Thursday, November 4, 3:00-4:00 in SUL 205
Grades, Assignments and Quizzes - Tuesday, November 16, 1:30-2:30 in SUL 205
Questions can be directed to Prof. Edith Chasen-Cerreta, Institute of Core Stud-ies, Scientific Inquiry at: chasene@stjohns.edu.